Tour Guide Technologies - We Are the Future

By Plant Tours Communications

Think of a situation when you have to provide a tour to prospecting investors of the manufacturing process of your organization. The environment is noisy, but they deserve to hear every word you say clearly and even respond. Worse still, one of your visitors might not be familiar with the language you are using. Therefore, you need an interpreter. Here is where tour guide technology systems come in.

A Brief History of Tour Guide Technologies

Tour guide systems solve two communication problems: making speech clear and tackling a language barrier. Allan Gordon Finlay and Edward Filene built the first mobile interpreting system in the 1920s. The United Nations perfected this equipment after World War II. However, these systems were primarily for conferencing purposes.

Audio tours did not come into play until Willem Sandberg pioneered the first museum audio tour in 1952. He was the director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. However, the system was only one way and used only pre-recorded audios. The visitor and the guide did not have any direct contact. Personal real-time communication was also impossible.

Developments in technology led to the development of machine interpreters and mobile equipment. Significant progress has been in the headset and microphone systems. Initially, microphones were standalone on tabletops with cables connecting it to the console/ transmitter.

Future designs are bound to have the source (microphone), transmitter and the receiver (earphones, headphones) in one equipment. However, you and your visitors can experience the future right now with systems from Plant-Tours.

Presenting the Future

Plant-Tours has developed innovative solutions that allow a full-fledged use of these tour guide technologies for multiple scenarios. If you need tour guide systems that cater to the future needs of your event tours, then consider any of our revolutionary products. Below is a quick highlight of our products and how they meet your requirements.

1. One-Way Tour Guide System

A large percentage of tour guides are guide-centered. Sandberg’s system and this one capitalize on this concept, though with vast technology differences. Plant-Tour’s system provides crisp, clear audio quality.

Headphones

Inferior headphones are bulky and low quality. This irritates the visitor, making even a short tour unbearable. A bad experience with your audio quality does not work to your advantage, especially if you are trying to sell to a prospect or impress stakeholders.

At Plant-Tours, we have created our own lightweight and ergonomically designed headphones, which eliminate the possibility of personal discomfort. As a result, the visitor can concentrate on what the guide is saying. In addition to this, the headphone’s receiving range is 200 feet. This ensures that the listener is always within the listening range.

Handheld microphone

Our one-way system comes with a handheld microphone that the participants can use when they need clarifications. It allows the guide to have a controlled interactive session. The guide carries the mic and hands it over to anyone who has a question and takes it back after that.

2. Two-Way Tour Guide Systems

Sometimes, you need systems that offer a more robust communication than the one way option. For example, our two-way systems are ideal for when you need to have an onboarding for new employees, training processes or even staff meetings on the manufacturing floor. Inspection sessions are other group activities that call for two way systems. Plant-Tours has a set of products just for this purpose.

Our headsets are all-in-one systems. That is, they have the transmitter, receiver, and source in the same component. It eliminates the possibility of cross-talk among different groups in the facility by use of 15 different channels.

Plant-Tours is the only manufacturer of these tour guide technologies systems. We offer both purchase and rental options, both of which are full-service. For rentals, we even send our own highly trained professional staff to your event in order to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

3. Staff Connect System

We provide a Staff Connect System to allow easy communication between your employees. The 15-channels system has long-talk settings. It will enable continuous communication between the staff members. It is a worthy investment that saves you time and overheads that result from communication breakdown between employees. The transmission range of clear audio is up to half a mile. You are probably, thinking, Wireless! Yeah, we have that too.

Interested in learning more about modern, cutting-edge tour guide technologies? Give us a call today!